In an earlier post, I promised a bit of news. Upon further review, I am not sure it counts as "news" – because the information has been public since April, if you knew where to look. So let's call this "an announcement."

There's gonna be a paperback.

On Oct, 16, readers who find hardcover books to be too inflexible and ebooks to be too electrical will be able to purchase Revenge of the Star Survivors in an entirely new format.

The words on the inside remain the same. Except for one comma. And a turtle.

The publisher also remains the same, and for that I am glad, because Holiday House has been a wonderful starbase for this writer. However, I am pleased to point out, for my friends in the bookselling business, that Holiday House is now distributed by Penguin Random House. I am pretty sure that Penguin Random House is sort of like the Force in that it flows in and around all things, at least in the bookselling world, which I hope means that if you ask for a copy at your favorite bookseller, you'll be able to find it with even less hassle than ever.

There may be a couple of speaking events appearing on the calendar soon. Stay tuned. (Or book me for one -- I work cheap.)

And thank you to everyone in the galaxy who got us to this point. Excelsior!

(Photo credit: Leah Jones. See more of her work on Instagram: @leahjonesin.)

The Spiderweb Salon, a local writer/artist collective, invited Revenge of the Star Survivors to take part in their "Spidercon" event in June. I was not really prepared for what I found when I beamed up to the city of Denton, though.

(Blurry iPhone photos should not be confused with the work of the professional photographer mentioned below.)

Where did I fit in to this Mos Eisely-like gathering?

Well, aside from having what surely was the oldest con-themed lapel button in the room (see below), as I told the crowd – it was incredibly meaningful to me. This was the first Revenge event squarely aimed at people who would understand a theme at the heart of the book: that being a sci-fi loving book nerd might mark you as an outcast, a weirdo, a freak. But it also can give you a welcoming cohort of kindred souls who are willing to embrace you with open arms. Or even tentacles.

That's a trade I will make any day. Thanks for having me, Spider-people.

(Photos used with the kind permission of Leah Jones. See more of her work on Instagram: @leahjonesin.)

By the way, the event took place in the city of Denton. Actual readers of Revenge of the Star Survivors might ask – any relation? To which I would say – yes. And to the city of Denton – it's nothing personal.

And one final note: If you have been reading this blog awaiting some kind of actual book news, please stay tuned. I promise to post some.

The #NTTBF18 authors are neatly boxed up in preparation for tomorrow’s crowds. It’s kind of cramped, to be honest, but roomer than many of the flights many of them came in on. pic.twitter.com/VYvdzyhksu

The best part of all is the crowds. I love meeting people. And I try not to let the lines at my table intimidate the younger people around me. Fortunately, this is never a problem when your last name begins with "M" and you are at an event with the likes of Julie Murphy and Sarah Mlynowski. I will say that the volunteers running their signing lines had a LOT of work to do. Whereas the volunteer in charge of mine had to stand around and engage me in conversation. So I post this selfie with her as a salute to all book festival volunteers everywhere. Thank you for taking on the really tough jobs.

But just to be clear – the event is a spectacular one. If you love books and love the idea of being around 10,000 teenagers who feel the same way, it's a little bit of heaven in Irving, full of truly inspirational moments.

I think this is the moment I either exorcised the crowd of demons or, possibly, told Luke that if he would not give in to his hate and complete his journey to the Dark Side, he. Would. Die. https://t.co/SdtT2HfJ97